Dark Origins – the dark origin of Valentine’s Day and its link to Chaucer

Modern Valentine’s Day is celebrated as the day of lovers. People give each other chocolates and flowers as gifts and often do something special with their partner.

Valentine’s Day did not start off as the cutesy day filled with candy and cuddles we know, it’s origins were dark and bloody.

Lupercalia

The date of 14 February coincides with the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia which was celebrated annually on the 15th of February. The aim of the festival was to purify Rome and promote health and fertility and certain rites or observances were undertaken to achieve this aim.

These rites took place in the Lupercal cave, the Palantine Hill (the centremost of the seven hills of Rome which has been called “the first nucleus of the Roman Empire”) and the Forum. All of these locations were central to Rome’s foundation myth about the founding of Rome and the earliest history of the city.

At the Lupercal altar, a male goat/s and a dog were sacrificed by one of the members of the priesthood called the Luperci (“brothers of the wolf”), undr the supervision of the high priest of Jupiter (flamen Dialis). An offering was also made of salted mealcakes prepared by the Vestal Virgins, priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome’s sacred hearth and its flame. After the sacrifice, two Luperci had their foreheads anointed with blood from the sacrificial knife. The knife was then wiped clean with wool soaked in milk and the two Luperci were expected to laugh. The two colours of Valentine, red and white, come from the blood from the sacrifices and the milk used to clean the knife.

A sacrificial feast then took place, after which the Luperci cut throngs from the hide of the animals and ran naked or near-naked with these through the city, striking people they met with the thongs. Many women of rank presented themselves to the Luperci with their hands held out to be struck, as they believed being struck would help a pregnant woman deliver a healthy baby and a barren woman to become pregnant.

During Lupercalia, the men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival. Often, the couple stayed together until the following year’s festival. Some elected to remain together and married.

Andrea Camassei, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons / Andrea Camassei, Public Domain, Wikimedia CommonsSt Valentine

St Valentine’s Day was added as a feast day to the Catholic liturgical calendar around 500 AD. The day was commemorated for martyred saints named Valentine.

There are several legends around who Saint Valentine was. The first was that Saint Valentine refused to convert to paganism and was executed by Roman Emperor Claudius II. Before his execution, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of his jailer who converted to Christianity, along with his family.

The second legend is that Saint Valentine was a bishop called Saint Valentine of Terni who was executed.

The third legend is that Saint Valentine was a Roman priest who performed marriages for Roman soldiers who were forbidden to marry in terms of a Roman emperor’s edict which stated that married men did not make good soldiers and forbade young men to marry.

Chaucer and Valentine

Some time between 1381 and 1382, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a 699 line poem in the form of a dream vision of a narrator called The Parliament of Foules (Fowls). This poem is the first one to reference the idea that St Valentine’s Day was a special day for lovers.

The poem is a bout a narrator who dreams that he passes through a beautiful landscape, through the dark temple of Venus and on to the bright light. Dame Nature oversees a large flock of birds which have gathered to choose their mates. The birds have a parliamentary debate while three male eagles try to seduce a female bird. The debate is full of speeches and insults. In the end, none of the three male eagles wins the female eagle. The dream ends with the welcoming of the coming spring.

“The Parliament of Fowles by Geoffrey Chaucer:

The life so short, the craft so long to learn,

The assay so hard, so sharp the conquering,

The fearful joy that slips away in turn,

All this mean I by Love, that my feeling

Astonishes with its wondrous working

So fiercely that when I on love do think

I know not well whether I float or sink.”

Carry on reading Modern English translation here: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/Fowls.php

Karl Wilhelm de Hamilton – https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Carl-Wilhelm-de-Hamilton/95822/The-Parliament-of-Birds.html https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-parliament-of-birds-carl-wilhelm-de-hamilton.html https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/521025/carl-wilhelm-de-hamilton-1668-1754the-parliament-of-the-birds/About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

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